Goodbyes and Second Chances
by Ellie603
Summary: A year after the events of "Journey's End," Donna and the Doctor's lives change forever, with a fateful meeting and hope for the future for one, and a battle and the opportunity to cast aside a regret from the past for the other. The Doctor believes that he missed his chance to say a proper goodbye to Rose Tyler, but maybe there's still time. (Set around The End of Time).
1. Another Library

_A/N: I never planned on writing anything for Doctor Who, but after finishing the series a month and a half ago, this idea kept floating around my head until it had worked itself into an actual story. Naturally, I couldn't concentrate too much on anything else until I'd written it down, so here we go. This story follows post-Series 4 canon, but is partially AU as here Donna was able to retain her new Time Lord mental capabilities after the metacrisis and subsequently stayed with the Doctor. I'm very much a happy ending person, so that's what this is going to be. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who is property of the BBC, and I take no ownership of the show or any of its characters. Some dialogue in this chapter is taken from _The End of Time (Part 1)_ by Russell T. Davies._

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The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS onto an unfamiliar sidewalk in front of a massive stone building, the words PUBLIC LIBRARY carved into the rock above its door. The planet they had landed on was a decent sized Earth-like one that the Doctor had only been too once before, several incarnations ago. In fact, the last time he had been anywhere near here was he and Donna's disastrous trip to a very different library in the not so distant past, though it seemed that they had arrived on this new planet a few years after that incident had occurred.

"Are you sure this is it?" the Doctor asked Donna, "You really want to go back in a library after what happened the last time?"

Donna offered him a small smile, but then nodded. "It's definitely here."

As she stared up at the enormous structure, her smile faded and a look of confusion took its place. The Doctor had a good idea of what she was thinking. Donna knew she was supposed to be on this planet, in this city, at this spot, on this day, and at this time, but she had no idea why.

It had started with the TARDIS. After the metacrisis a year or so back, Donna and the TARDIS had formed a closer connection, one much more like that of a Time Lord and his ship than of any other human companion and the TARDIS, with the possible exception of Rose Tyler. It had begun responding to Donna and pushing her into specific situations as it had always done with the Doctor.

The Doctor, for his part, had been very proud of Donna's ability to mentally survive the metacrisis, a phenomenon that could easily have killed her. After leaving Rose Tyler and his doppelgänger at Bad Wolf Bay in the parallel world, he had been extremely worried that he would have to remove Donna's memories and take her home. Donna, however, proved to be able to withstand the increase of brain activity and had not yet experienced any negative complications from the incident.

The Doctor did take Donna home after the day's events, but only for a short visit to see her family. Wilfred and Sylvia were so glad to have Donna home, safe and unharmed, but they wanted to know exactly what had happened. Donna told them an abbreviated version of their adventure, with the Doctor throwing in details every so often. Wilfred had soon realized that there was something different about Donna, so when she finally explained about the metacrisis, he simply nodded. Sylvia, on the other hand, had been extremely shocked and had to have the situation explained to her several times.

"There were _two_ of him?" Sylvia wildly pointed at the Doctor. "How can there have been _two_ of him?"

Donna sighed exasperatedly. "I've told you three times already! That was the metacrisis! Between me and his old hand that was filled with regeneration energy. It took some of my human DNA and made the other Doctor from the hand, and it took some of the Doctor's Time Lord DNA and added it to me."

"I'm never going to understand this," said Sylvia wearily. Wilfred patted her arm to comfort her.

The rest of the day had passed for Donna in a rush of explanations and phone calls with friends who were very surprised to hear that Donna had actually been around for this Earth-altering event. The Doctor, however, kept to himself.

He had returned, alone, to the TARDIS where his thoughts were with a blonde woman that he had lost for a second time, this loss even more permanent than the one before. As the rain fell thickly around the TARDIS, the Doctor wished only that he had said a proper goodbye to his Rose Tyler. Of course, he knew that, had he said goodbye to her one last time, there would have been a good chance that he never would have left. _She'll be happy with him_, he thought to himself._ It is me, after all._

Soon, Donna had called him inside for dinner, threatening that if he chose not to come, she would go out in the rain and drag him inside herself. The Doctor, knowing the seriousness of Donna's statement, had complied.

After leaving her family's home, Donna and the Doctor had continued to travel all across time and space, the Doctor still missing Rose, but incredibly happy that Donna was with him, and even more happy that she could now pilot the TARDIS and help him fix the ship when it needed repairs.

They had spent Christmas in 1851 London where they met a man who believed he was the Doctor, but turned out to be a regular human named Jackson. The poor man had been consumed by grief for the death of his wife at the hands of cybermen, but he was able to regain his real memory and reunite with his still-living son. The real Doctor had saved everyone from a giant cyberman that had been created, and Donna was elated to see the Doctor receive, for once in his life, the gratitude of the entire city, their applause and cheers drifting up to Donna and the Doctor high up in Jackson's hot air balloon. When Jackson invited them to Christmas dinner that night, the Doctor had been unable to turn down the offer before Donna had accepted and pulled him down the street.

Several months later, they had popped back to see Donna's family for Easter, deciding to visit London while they were back so the Doctor could find a wormhole that the TARDIS had sensed in the area. The bus they had taken naturally went through said wormhole, landing on planet covered in sand. Donna had been furious with the Doctor, as he had promised her a nice peaceful Easter holiday, and had shouted at him as they went out to explore the planet. The presence of a Lady Christina de Souza who seemed set on impressing the Doctor with her lineage and numerous personal accomplishments only annoyed Donna further, and, upon finding out Christina was a thief who stole artifacts for fun, Donna almost slapped her. Of course when the Doctor figured out how to drive the bus back home and Christina leaned in to kiss him, Donna actually had slapped her. When they returned to Earth, the Doctor and Donna had a word with the police about lightening Christina's impending prison sentence for her recent theft of a priceless golden goblet, Donna only grudgingly agreeing to help because the goblet had allowed them to return home. Soon Christina was in handcuffs, and Donna and the Doctor were off again.

Only a few short weeks before the TARDIS had begun pushing Donna toward the public library where the Doctor and Donna now stood, the pair had landed in Mars in the year 2059, just in time to meet Captain Adelaide Brooke before her untimely death. If Donna of two years ago had come along on this trip, she would have begged the Doctor to save the crew, as she had begged him to save the family in Pompeii. However, Donna had changed over the course of her time with the Doctor. With her heightened Time Lord mental capabilities, she understood that this event was not something the Doctor could change; it was fixed: it had to happen. Realizing this, Donna had been able to help the Doctor leave the situation before he did anything too drastic.

Once they were safely away on the TARDIS, the Doctor had looked at Donna and smiled sadly. "I really do need someone to stop me sometimes. Thank you." Donna had nodded in reply as she and the Doctor shared a comforting hug.

And then it was Donna saying she had to visit this particular planet at this particular time because the TARDIS wanted her to. The Doctor had received his own message, not from the TARDIS, but from the Ood. He had not shared the Ood's summons with Donna, knowing that she would want him to go right away. The Ood had been continually reminding him that, as they said, "his song would end soon," and that was not an idea the Doctor wanted to think about at the moment.

So that left the library. It was a very large library, but not one of the largest in the universe. It was special only in its reputation for a massive quantity of obscure historical texts, something the Doctor knew Donna had very little interest in, but Donna said she was supposed to be here, so the Doctor went along with her. He had lost count of the random journeys that he had dragged Donna on, so he was glad to return the favor.

"No point standing around out front. Allons-y!" the Doctor said to Donna, grinning to reassure her, as he took her hand.

Donna returned his smile, and the two walked quickly up the stone stairs to the entrance.

Once inside, the Doctor asked Donna if she was okay by herself, as he wanted to go off to explore the large history section to see which parts of history the books had gotten wrong and which parts they had finally corrected.

Donna laughed and told him to have fun, but as soon as the Time Lord left, her smile fell and she stared from one side of the room to the other, still clueless as to why she had been pushed here. She began wandering through the shelves, pausing to examine a volume or two every so often, just to look as though she knew what she was doing there, but soon she grew impatient with her futile search and its unknown purpose.

"Oh come on!" she said to herself, louder than was appreciated in the library, particularly in the section in which she was currently standing, as several patrons were pouring over enormous historical tomes. An angry looking librarian glared at her disapprovingly, and several library visitors threw her annoyed glances.

However, one of the scholars at a table scanning an ancient volume looked up at Donna's exclamation and, at the sight of her, gasped. That small gasp in a room full of silence and turning pages caught Donna's attention. She glanced around to discover the source of the sound and was met with the sight of someone she had thought she would never see again. Someone she had convinced herself was created out of her own imagination.

"Lee," Donna breathed, her knees growing weak beneath her.

The dark haired man stood and rushed over to her, abandoning his research. "D- D- Donna," he finally spoke after several failed attempts.

"I found you. I found you," Donna repeated to Lee, as though assuring herself that this was reality.

Lee struggled for a moment, and then responded with one single word. "Yes."

The couple embraced, each elated to have found the other, and, completely oblivious to the not-so-subtle coughs of the other library patrons and the angrier-still librarian, their lips met in a kiss they had been waiting for so long to share.

A section away, the Doctor was flipping through one of the library's many volumes on the history of the planet Earth. Every minute or two he let out a laugh at an inaccuracy, offered a nod at a well recorded fact, or grew excited at an account of a particular event he had been involved with.

After skimming through the more interesting parts of the text (meaning, more often than not, the parts the Doctor had helped out with himself), he wandered over to the next section and was drawn to a very old book lying open on one of the tables. As the Doctor picked up the book to check the title, he noticed the heading at the top of the page the book had been opened to. It read in large letters, **NOBLE**.

"Donna," the Doctor said quietly as he scanned the page. It seemed to be an index of historical figures with a brief entry following each name. A short distance down the page he spotted what he was looking for: **NOBLE, DONNA.** It had been lightly underlined. He read the entry: _**Legendary red-haired woman spotted in various centuries, often on the planet Earth. Potential connection with several of the earliest well recorded and worldwide extraterrestrial encounters on Earth. Possibly a myth, but some connection may exist between her and the mysterious figure known as The Doctor (see **_**DOCTOR**_**).**_

The Doctor smiled faintly at the labeling of Donna as "legendary", but then he realized that whoever had been reading this book must be the reason for their trip here. The Doctor decided he needed to find Donna right away and let her know that someone was looking for her. With their track record, it was relatively safe to bet that this person's search was not well intentioned.

"Donn-" he stopped short as he looked up and saw the red-haired woman he was calling for just across the section, locked in an embrace with a man he did not recognize.

The Doctor walked hesitantly across the room, unsure of how to deal with the situation. The other library visitors seemed annoyed by Donna and the dark haired man's behavior, but neither was giving the rest of the library any attention.

As the Doctor neared the pair he cleared his throat loudly and addressed Donna. "So, um, Donna, who's your friend? Are you going to introduce me?"

Donna and the man broke apart, utter joy radiating from their faces.

"Doctor," Donna began breathlessly, "this is Lee McAvoy."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment until the name sunk in. Instantly, his face lit up. "Lee! Like 'Lee from the library computer' Lee?"

"That's the one!" Donna laughed. "He's real, Doctor! He's actually real!" Donna's exclamations elicited more dirty looks from the others in the room, while the librarian whispered angrily at her to please be quieter so as not to disturb those trying to work. Donna ignored her with a wave of her hand, caught up in her own happiness, and continued, "and Lee, this is the Doctor, my traveling companion and best friend."

The Doctor laughed. "I'm _your _traveling companion? Weellll," The Doctor paused, "I suppose that is sort of true, at least about this trip. You are the one who needed to go here, and now I see why." He grinned hugely at her. "But glad to meet you, Mr. McAvoy!" He shook Lee's hand.

"I've been d- d- doing research on you, D- D- Donna," Lee said, his eyes never leaving the woman at his side. "And the D- D- Doctor too. You're all over the h- history books."

"Oh yes, I saw!" the Doctor said, nodding at Lee, "I happened to glance into that book you were reading over there and saw the entry about Donna. It said she was, and I quote, 'legendary' and 'possibly a myth'."

Donna looked delighted. "Well of _course_ I'm legendary! It's about bloody well time they noticed!" She laughed, half sarcastic and half joyful, and turned back to Lee. "I can't even believe this. We looked all over that library for you once everything had been sorted, but you weren't there."

"Y- Yes, I was. I s- s- saw you both leaving. I tried to c- call out, but I was t- t- teleported away before I c- could." Lee looked down at his feet, but Donna placed her hand on his cheek, lifting his head up so his eyes were level with hers.

"It's okay," she said softly, "I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

At that moment a library worker tapped the Doctor on the arm. "Excuse me, sir," he said, uncomfortably, "I see there's some sort of reunion going on here, but these people are trying to read and do research. Any chance you all could take this outside?"

"Oh yes, yes, of course," the Doctor replied apologetically, ushering Donna and Lee out of the section and receiving grateful smiles from the surrounding patrons and the now more peaceable-looking librarian.

As the three exited the library, Donna told Lee, as quickly as possible, all about the Doctor, the TARDIS, the metacrisis, their travels, and how she had finally been nudged by the ship into coming to this particular library at this time on this day.

After almost dragging him down the stairs, she unlocked the TARDIS and practically threw Lee inside before the Doctor had even gotten halfway down the steps.

"Look!" she almost shouted, "it's bigger on the inside!"

Lee was even more speechless than usual.

"Sorry about her," the Doctor said to Lee with a wink as he finally entered the ship, "she gets overexcited."

Donna opened her mouth to make an angry retort, but Lee patted her arm comfortingly and smiled.

"Wish I could make her shut up like that," the Doctor joked, tactlessly.

Lee did not try to stop Donna this time as she marched over to the Doctor and slapped him full in the face. "Stupid Spaceman," she grumbled as she walked back over to Lee.

"I was only joking!" the Doctor cried, rubbing his stinging cheek. "That hurt!"

'Yeah, not sorry." Donna glared at him, but her smile was curling up at the edges of her mouth, and the Doctor knew she would not be mad at him for long.

"So, Lee," the Doctor turned to their new companion who was still glancing, awed, around the ship, "you live around here?"

Lee looked at him and nodded. "I have a flat j- just down the road. W- Would you like to c- c- come for tea?" He directed his question at Donna who grinned and nodded her approval of the idea.

During the walk to the flat, Lee told them, stumblingly, about his job in the city as a historian, always traveling from library to library, with this particular library as his home base. Ever since he'd left the library where they'd met, he'd been trying to find Donna, as his friends and family from before his trip to the library were all gone now due to his long stay in the computer system.

As Lee told them about this loss, Donna stroked his hand comfortingly, and the Doctor could not help but smile at the gesture. He knew Donna needed this in her life, and he was nothing but happy for her.

Donna and the Doctor remained in the city for several days as Lee and Donna made plans for their future together. The Doctor took to spending time alone in the TARDIS, not wanting to dampen Donna's joy. He again longed for his blonde companion. Donna was the greatest: his best friend and the savior of the universe, but she could never be his Rose Tyler. If he had kept Rose with him, they would have been together, just as happy as Donna and Lee: reunited and, the Doctor could not even think the words with out the pain of loss consuming him, completely in love. But, no, he was being selfish, he told himself. Rose had him, a him she could stay with forever. They could have a family and travel in their TARDIS and have the most fantastic of lives. And really, the Doctor thought, all he had ever wanted was for Rose Tyler to have a fantastic life. With a sad smile, he returned to the single regret he could have acted on: he had left without saying goodbye. _That's the one thing I would have done differently_ he said to himself, shaking his head, _I would have gotten one last hug from Rose Tyler._

The Doctor would cycle through these thoughts several times each day, even as he tried to distract himself by working on the TARDIS, but always he ended with that one last wish.

During one of these periods as he moped about the TARDIS, Donna entered, the smile that had hardly left her face since finding Lee fading as she saw the Doctor's sorrowful expression.

"Doctor," she said hesitantly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm okay," the Doctor replied, looking up at her and putting on a smile.

Donna looked at him reproachfully. "I know you too well for the whole 'I'm okay' trick to actually work, remember?"

The Doctor stared at his feet sheepishly. "Yeah, I always forget that." He lifted his head and offered a small smile, a real one this time, as he continued, "but really, I'll be fine. I promise."

Donna nodded, slightly reassured but still skeptical.

"So what'd you need, Miss Noble?" the Doctor asked in his usual light tone.

"Well," She stopped, a smile spreading wider and wider over her face. "Lee's asked me to marry him. He said it already happened before, so why wait." Donna's face was positively glowing with happiness.

"Donna!" the Doctor practically shouted. "That's brilliant! I'm so happy for you!" He rushed over to give his best friend a hug.

"But then we were talking about where we want to live, and he wants to come back to Earth with me, my time. Can we do that?" Donna looked up at the Doctor inquisitively, her eyes pleading with him.

"Of course you can," the Doctor answered, grinning, "What would the point of the TARDIS be if I couldn't do that?" He laughed.

"There's one more thing though," Donna continued, more nervously, "we want to have the wedding here, as the last thing we do on this planet in this time. It's where we met and then where we found each other again."

The Doctor nodded his agreement. "Absolutely."

"But I want my mum and granddad to be there too. Could you get them and bring them here?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't see why not, though your mother probably isn't going to handle being in the TARDIS too well, knowing her." The Doctor shook his head with a small sigh, but then looked thoughtful. "Wilfred will be fine though; he's a good man, Wilfred." The Doctor smiled at Donna. "When do you want them to get here?"

"Oh, whenever," Donna responded, unconcerned. "I just want them to get to know Lee before the wedding."

"Alright then," said the Doctor, nodding. "I'll leave tomorrow. I suppose I should make that stop along the way…" He trailed off. The Doctor had almost forgotten about the Ood and their request to meet with him.

"What stop?" Donna asked, suspiciously.

"Oh, right," said the Doctor remembering he had not told Donna, "I got a message from the Ood a day or so before we got here. There's apparently a matter of importance that they need my help with."

Donna looked at him sharply. "Why didn't you go before? This could be serious!"

The Doctor brushed off her concerns. "It's fine, it's really fine. You needed to be here, and the Ood can wait a little while. Besides, they'll probably just go on about how my song is ending and all that."

Donna placed a hand comfortingly on the Doctor's forearm. "You'll be fine, Doctor. I've never seen anyone better at escaping from death than you. You'll just grow a second body or whatever like last time." Donna laughed, trying to make light of the situation.

"I suppose," said the Doctor, humoring her. "But I'll go see the Ood tomorrow, definitely, and deal with that, and then I'll bring your family back here."

"Good plan," replied Donna. "Now get inside and have some fun. No need for you to sit around sulking in here all day."

The Doctor smiled, and the pair returned to Lee's flat.

The following day, the Doctor left Lee and Donna and landed the TARDIS on the snow-covered planet where the Ood resided.

The Doctor exited the TARDIS and found Ood Sigma waiting for him.

"Sorry I couldn't come straight here," he apologized nonchalantly, "my friend had a place to be and a guy to meet, and it all took a while…" He stopped as the Ood stared at him.

"You should not have delayed." Ood Sigma reprimanded.

"Last time I was here, you said my song would be ending soon, and I'm in no hurry for that."

"You will come with me." The Ood turned and began walking away, leaving the Doctor to follow him.

Ood Sigma informed the Doctor of the bad dreams of the Ood as he was led to a meeting of their Elders. There he was shown the dream. First, the Doctor saw the laughing face of a man he knew to be dead: the Master. Then he saw Donna's grandfather, Wilfred, so very scared back on Earth. "Is he alright? And Sylvia, what about her?" the Doctor asked frantically.

The chief Elder of the Ood did not answer, but continued, "you should not have delayed, for the lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the king is in his counting house." The Doctor saw flashes of other faces, a man and a woman he did not know. And then it was the Master's wife, Lucy, all alone in a cage. The Doctor had not seen her since she shot the insane Time Lord inside the airship where they had spent the year that never was.

The Ood asked about the woman, and The Doctor showed them his memories and told them about that year and what had happened to the Earth and to the Master. But then the Ood pointed out a detail of the Doctor's memory that he had overlooked: part of the Master had survived.

"I have to go!" the Doctor yelled, struggling to break free from the Ood's circle, but the Elders stopped him. "Something more is happening, Doctor" the Elder continued, "the Master part of a greater design because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. Time is bleeding. These events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past. The darkness heralds only one thing: the end of time itself."

The Doctor rose then, at last permitted to go, and sprinted toward the TARDIS. He needed to return to Earth to fix this, to fix the entire universe and all of space and time. As he set the coordinates of his ship, he wished for a moment that someone was there with him. But thinking of the Master and all the harm he had caused before, the Doctor decided that it might be better this time for him to be alone: no one could get hurt except himself.

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_A/N: The next chapter will be up as soon as possible, most likely within the next week._

_Thanks for reading! Reviews are lovely and very much appreciated!_


	2. The End of Time Itself

_A/N: This chapter ended up being very difficult to write, since it's essentially an edited version of_ The End of Time_. It's just such a sad episode that it killed me to watch parts of it again. Originally, I was going to do the whole _End of Time_ sequence as more of a summary, but that ended up very boring and didn't allow me the leeway I needed to add in and change bits and pieces of the text and story to fit in here, so here's what I had to go with. It really is just _The End of Time_ though, so I can't really take credit for much of anything, just changing the episode's format. This chapter is necessary for the rest of the story, so that's why it had to happen. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: __Doctor Who is property of the BBC, and I take no ownership of the show or any of its characters. Much of the dialogue and the plot of this chapter is taken from _The End of Time (Parts 1 and 2)___ by Russell T. Davies._

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After landing the TARDIS on Earth, the Doctor attempted to track down the Master, the other Time Lord's four drum beats echoing around him. The Doctor heard in his mind the prophecy of a woman he and Donna had met in London when their bus had gone through the wormhole. "He will knock four times," the woman had said. The Doctor had almost forgotten the prophecy, not wanting to think about it. His own death loomed over his thoughts.

After several minutes spent running after the Master, the other Time Lord vanished from the Doctor's sight, and he found Wilfred and a group of Wilfred's friends.

"Oh my gosh, Doctor! You're a sight for sore eyes!" the white-haired man exclaimed running at the Doctor, his arms waving.

The Doctor looked around at the group now discussing his appearance and how they had tracked him down.

"Wilfred," he asked, confused and almost angry, frustrated with the Master's disappearance, "have you told them who I am? You promised me."

"No," Wilfred responded, hurriedly, "I just told them you were a doctor, that's all! And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again!" He saluted.

The crowd of Wilfred's friends gathered around the Doctor, who glanced around, confused and anxious, needing, more than anything, to find the Master.

He went back with Wilfred to a cafe to discuss the situation and to figure out how he was going to find the Master again.

"I would ask where Donna is," Wilfred began, cheerfully, "but I phoned her already when I was looking for you, and she said you two split up for a bit, but you'd be coming here soon to see us anyway. Apparently she has news, but she was in the middle of something so she asked that you tell me." Wilfred looked at the Doctor, expectantly.

The Doctor, who had been far away during their entire ride to the cafe, consumed with ideas about how to find the Master and how to make everything right, began paying attention again at the mention of Donna.

"Oh! Right! Donna!" he said, having temporarily forgotten his secondary mission to bring Wilfred and Sylvia back to meet his best friend's fiancé. "She's getting married to a nice bloke called Lee! They got married in a library computer a few years back but then were separated. Just a week ago, they found each other again, so they're getting married for real this time. She wants me to bring you and Sylvia back to meet him before the wedding. Oh, and it's on another planet in the 51st century." He added as an afterthought.

Wilfred looked stunned. "She's getting married? In another century?"

"Yup," the Doctor responded, matter-of-factly. "But that's not really why I'm here." The Doctor's face grew serious. "Something weird's going on, isn't it, Wilf?" He stared at the man in front of him.

The shock and joy quickly disappeared from Wilfred's face as he nodded. "I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face, at night."

The Doctor nodded, already having learned this from the Ood, but something was odd here.

He and Wilfred kept meeting each other over and over, so often that it could not be mere coincidence; he had been back on Earth less than fifteen minutes before Wilfred had found him. That was far too quickly. Wilfred seemed to be strangely important in the same way Donna had been. The Doctor knew that something was going to happen.

"I'm going to die," the Doctor said after a long pause. "I was told, 'he will knock four times.' That was a prophecy. Knock four times, and then…" The Doctor trailed off.

Wilfred asked him about regeneration, having heard about it from Donna's explanation of the metacrisis, but the Doctor told him that even if he changed, it still felt like dying.

"Everything I am dies," he elaborated, "some new man goes sauntering away." The Doctor paused, as he made several attempts to speak. "And I'm dead," he said finally, tears coming to his eyes, but not escaping. He longed to have Donna or Martha or Rose by his side. Each one of them had made him a better person, and each one of them had made sure that he was not alone. But he was alone now, and soon he would be alone forever.

That night, the Doctor was able to chase down the Master in some distant wasteland, trying to tell him about the prophecy and the coming end of time. The blond Time Lord seemed to have acquired superhuman strength and some sort of extra energy when he had been reborn and was, thus, even more difficult to reason with than before. In those wastelands, the Doctor heard, for the first time, the endless drumming within the Master's mind. The Doctor realized that the drumming was coming from an outside source, rather than the Master himself.

As the Master began to run again, he was abducted and taken up into a helicopter, the Doctor unable to save him.

The Doctor found Wilfred at his home the following day, unable to think of any other connection to what was happening, and his friend, at a loss for how to help, invited him inside.

Sylvia was happy to see the Time Lord again and grew even more excited, albeit astonished, after her father, who had been waiting for the Doctor's arrival to give his daughter the news, told her about Donna's upcoming wedding.

"He's going to take us to see Donna and meet this Lee fellow once everything's sorted down here!" Wilfred exclaimed, temporarily forgetting his dreams and the Doctor's quest.

The Doctor's eyes, however, grew downcast at this statement. _If I'm still alive by then,_ he thought to himself, dejectedly. But then another thought occurred to him: if he died here, now, Donna would be stuck in the 51st century waiting for him to bring her family and then take her and Lee home to her present. _I can't fail them, _he told himself, resolutely. _I have to stay alive long enough help her; she is my best friend after all._

Then, a book sitting on the counter distracted the Doctor. "What's this, Wilf?" he asked, holding up the shiny, new hardcover.

"Christmas present from Sylvia!" he said with a smile that fell as he noticed the Doctor staring intensely at the man's photograph on the front. "What's wrong, Doctor?" he asked nervously.

"He's involved with this somehow." The Doctor pointed to the man on the cover, remembering him from the Ood's dream. "I've got to find him."

The Doctor quickly exited the house, Wilfred following, and, after Wilfred stated that he was coming along too, the pair entered the TARDIS, which quickly dematerialized.

As the Doctor piloted the ship to the laboratory of Joshua Naismith, the unknown man's name, according to Wilfred's book, he suddenly remembered that Wilfred had never been inside the TARDIS before.

"Oh, right, yes," the Doctor said apologetically to the other man who was staring all around the ship, wide-eyed. "Bigger on the inside. Do you like it? Oh, I wish Donna were here to see this." The Doctor grinned, his eyes slightly distant as he thought of his red-haired friend.

In just a few moments, the two men had arrived at the Naismith estate, Wilfred refusing to stay behind with the TARDIS. Upon entering the basement laboratory, they met a woman the Doctor knew instantly was not a human. One move of his sonic screwdriver was enough to remove her human guise, and the Doctor did the same to the second false human that came to the lab. However, the Doctor was far more concerned about the Master than the green, cactus-like (as pointed out by Wilfred) aliens. The recently resurrected Time Lord had apparently fixed an enormous gate-like machine, the use of which was unknown to the Doctor.

Upon questioning the alien scientists, the Doctor found that they were Vinvocci and that the gate was of the same origin.

"It's a medical device to repair the body," explained the male Vinvocci. "It makes people better."

"So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?" Wilfred asked, trying to understand.

"More or less," replied the female alien.

Wilfred scratched his head. "Well, pardon me for asking, but why is it so big?"

The Doctor looked up from where he had been going through the gate's plans. "Oh, good question. Why's it so big?"

"It doesn't just mend one person at a time," said the woman, incredulously. "It mends whole planets. It transmits the medical template across the entire population."

The Doctor stared at her, his mind racing, and, in an instant, he took off running.

"TURN THE GATE OFF RIGHT NOW!" he yelled, racing into the room where the Naismiths stood with guards all around, the Master contained before them in a straightjacket.

As the guards aimed their weapons at the Doctor, he backed off, trying to explain himself. "Whatever you do, don't let him near that device!" He pointed wildly at the Master, who smiled.

"Like that was ever going to happen," the Master said, nearly laughing, as he freed himself neatly from his restraints and leapt into the glowing gate.

"Deactivate it! Turn the whole thing off!" the Doctor tried to order the Naismiths and laboratory workers, but already it was too late.

"He's… inside my head." Mr. Naismith attempted to shake the Master away, but to no avail.

The Doctor watched as the others in the room, as well as the newscaster and politicians on television, experienced the same phenomenon.

"Doctor." Wilfred walked, stumblingly, into the room, as though he were having trouble seeing. "Doctor, there's, there's this face. I can see him."

The Doctor rushed to the computer, but was unable to turn off the gate. Instead, he entered one side of the glass cubicles that stood against the wall. "I just need to filter the levels!" he called to Wilfred as he instructed him to step into the opposite cubicle. They were designed so that one person had to enter to allow the other to leave.

Wilfred was able to let the Doctor out of his side, while remaining encased within the glass.

"Fifty seconds and counting!" the Master announced, in a voice full of malicious glee. "Oh, you're going to love this."

As the Doctor watched, the heads of all those in the room, as well as those on the television, began to vibrate rapidly back and forth, until, at once, they stopped. Each and every person, except The Doctor and Wilfred, had become the Master.

"Breaking news," said the Master on the TV, where moments before a newswoman had sat, "I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!"

"Now," said the original Master, "there is no human race. There is only the Master race!" He threw back his head in maniacal laughter that every new version of the Master soon joined.

The original Master commanded the soldier versions of himself to tie up Wilfred and gag and strap down the Doctor. "I've got a planet to run," he said, grinning, as different versions of himself in positions of leadership all across the Earth began reporting for duty.

"You let him go, you swine!" called Wilfred to the Master across the room.

The Master rolled his eyes and glanced at the Doctor. "Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss."

"Yeah, well I'd be proud if I was," Wilfred replied, obstinately.

The Master turned Doctor, removing his gag and demanding to know where the TARDIS was.

The Doctor looked at him with sad eyes. "You could be so wonderful," he said, wistfully. "You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honor. Because you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space: that's ownership enough."

"Would it stop, then? The noise in my head?" the Master asked, almost thoughtful. "I don't know what I'd be without that noise." Then he paused, a smile growing rapidly on his face. "Oh. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good."

"What?" the Doctor asked nervously, "What is?"

"The noise exists within my head," the Master replied, "and now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine. Oh. Oh, yes." He laughed, staring up at the sky. "But Doctor," he looked back down to his fellow Time Lord, "when we met in the wasteland you said something about the end of time, a prophecy…" An idea was growing in his mind. "What if I'm part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away: from the end of time itself. And now it's been amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals; I could find its source! Oh, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was: me!" He spread out his arms, almost joyfully, but then his face grew harsh as he slapped the Doctor. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"No," said the Doctor, still trying to reason with the Master. "Just think. Just stop."

The Master pointed at Wilfred. "Kill him," he commanded a helmeted guard waiting in the doorway. "I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead."

"Don't tell him!" Wilfred yelled, bravely.

The Doctor, however, looked thoughtful. "Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone dead stupid."

The Master took in a deep breath. "Take aim," he ordered the guard.

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?" the Doctor continued.

"Like what?" the Master replied, his voice harsh and his eyes glaring.

"That guard is one inch too tall."

As the Master, alarmed, turned his head to the helmeted man, the butt of the guard's firearm connected with the side of his face, knocking him out.

"Oh my God, I hit him," exclaimed the male Vinvocci alien, removing the helmet. "I've never hit anyone in my life!"

"Well, come on," called the female Vinvocci exasperatedly, as she rushed into the room. "We need to get out of here fast."

The aliens untied Wilfred hurriedly, but kept the Doctor on the wheeled chair he was strapped to, unable to undo all the fastenings quickly.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor called out, unable to move, as the aliens wheeled him down a hallway. "The other way! I've got my TARDIS!"

"I know what I'm doing!" stated the female alien, who was leading the group.

As the quartet ended up in the basement, the Doctor tried again. "Just, just stop and listen to me!"

Suddenly, helmeted troops and the Master himself surrounded them. "Gotcha." The original Master grinned.

"You think so?" replied the female Vinvocci, smirking, as she pressed a finger to her wristwatch. Instantly, both of the Vinvocci, as well as the Doctor and Wilfred, were teleported up to the Vinvocci's ship.

"Now get me out of this thing!" the Doctor ordered, as he tried to free himself. "He's not going to let us go. Just hurry up and get me out!"

The female alien looked annoyed. "But we're safe. We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth."

The Doctor, finally free of his restraints, looked at her, exasperatedly. "And he's got every single missile on the planet _ready to fire_." He emphasized the last three words, staring her directly in the face.

"Good point," she replied finally, turning and racing out a door to the flight deck, the second Vinvocci following her, and the Doctor and Wilfred bringing up the rear.

"We've got to close it down!" the Doctor shouted, upon reaching the flight deck.

The male alien shook his head. "No chance, mate. We're going home."

"We are _not_ leaving." The Doctor fired his sonic screwdriver at the control panel, sapping all the power and effectively making their ship invisible to the Master down on Earth.

The two Vinvocci stood in silence with the Doctor and Wilfred, waiting for something to happen. After a few moments, the woman spoke. "No sign of any missiles. No sign of anything. You've wrecked the place! The engines are burnt out. All we've got is auxiliary lights! We can't move. We're stuck in orbit."

As the female Vinvocci strode angrily off of the flight deck, Wilfred turned to the Doctor. "I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on! You've always got a trick up your sleeve."

One glance at the Doctor's downcast and hopeless expression wiped any hint of a smile off Wilfred's face. "Oh, blimey," he said, resting his head in his hand.

Minutes ticked by up in the Vinvocci ship, and the Doctor retreated to the room with the teleport. Hours later, Wilfred came to join him.

"Aye, aye. Got this old tub mended?" Wilfred asked, attempting to sound light-hearted.

"Just trying to fix the heating," the Doctor replied, his glasses perched on his nose.

Wilfred nodded and turned to look out at planet Earth, huge, in the window of the ship. "Oh. I've always dreamt of a view like that. I'm an astronaut!" He laughed good-naturedly. "It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day." He paused. "My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now." Wilfred's eyes turned sad for a moment, but then he turned his thoughts elsewhere. "Oh, 1948, I was over there." He pointed down at the planet. "End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott, skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad." Wilfred stopped. "Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"

"I'm older than you," the Doctor commented, the tinniest hint of smile just visible on his face.

Wilfred almost laughed. "Get away."

"I'm nine hundred and six," the Doctor said wryly in reply.

Wilfred paused for a moment to check that the Time Lord was being serious. "What? Really though?"

"Yeah." The laughter of the Time Lord was now more present in his voice.

"Nine hundred years," Wilfred said, awed. "We must look like insects to you."

The Doctor looked back at Wilfred, a clear respect for the older-looking, albeit younger, man evident in his expression. "I think you look like giants."

Wilfred half smiled, but then sobered. "Listen, I… I want you to have this." Wilfred offered his revolver to the Doctor.

"No," the Doctor flat-out refused. He gave Wilfred a searching look. "You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then. Why didn't you?"

Wilfred looked at the gun in his hands. "Too scared, I suppose."

"I'd be proud," the Doctor said, seemingly out of the blue.

Wilfred looked confused. "Of what?"

"If you were my dad."

Wilfred tried to brush off the Doctor's comment, but was clearly very touched. "Oh, come on, don't start."

Wilfred changed the subject by bringing up the prophecy and asking if it meant that the Master was going to kill him. When the Doctor affirmed this statement, Wilfred pressed him to take the gun, but, again, the Doctor refused.

"A star fell from the sky." The Master's voice was suddenly heard echoing throughout the ship, causing the Doctor and Wilfred to look around, startled. "Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond is a Whitepoint Star. And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. The star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Doctor. This should be spectacular. Over and out." The Master finished speaking.

"What's he on about? What's he doing?" Wilfred asked the Doctor, confused and worried. "Doctor, what does that mean?"

All expression drained from the Doctor's face. "A Whitepoint Star is only found on one planet. Gallifrey. Which means it's the Time Lords. The Time Lords are returning." He picked up Wilfred's revolver, staring at it for several seconds, and then raced out of the room, his hands still clutching the gun.

Back on the flight deck, a four-beat signal could be heard coming from Earth on every single wavelength. The Doctor breathed in and out heavily, terrified of what was to come.

The Doctor explained to Wilfred about the time-locked Time War and how this signal had already been planted there, meaning the Time Lords could use it to escape. The Doctor knew he did not have much time. He was able to fire up the ship as well as its asteroid lasers, placing them in Wilfred and the male Vinvocci's control. The Master could see their ship now, but the Doctor could not help that.

"Allons-y!" he cried, steering the craft down toward Earth.

As they were over the ocean, several missiles fired by the Master caught up to them, but Wilfred and the alien stationed in the laser-pods were able to shoot some of them down. At the same time, the Doctor and the female Vinvocci were able to lock the navigation onto the Naismith mansion.

When they reached their destination, the Doctor pulled the ship up from the dive it had been taking, and then, with one last look at Wilfred, he jumped through a panel in bottom of the craft. The revolver was still held fast in his hand.

He fell through the glass dome of the mansion into the room that held the gate. Already, several Times Lords stood before the Master.

The Doctor, lying bruised and cut up on the ground, tried to lift up the revolver and aim it at the Time Lord in the center, but he was too weak.

"My Lord Doctor, my Lord Master," the center Time Lord began, "we are gathered for the end."

The Master began to tell this Time Lord, the Lord President Rassilion, of what he had done to the human race and how he planned to do the same thing to the Time Lords: turn each and every one of them into the Master himself.

Rassilion outstretched his hand, encased in a gauntlet. The metal glove glowed blue as the heads of the humans in the room began to vibrate back and forth as they had before. The Lord President was deaf to the Master's protests against this action, and soon all of humanity was restored to its original form.

"On your knees, mankind," the Time Lord ordered.

All those present complied.

"The approach begins," Rassilion stated.

A mere moment later, the Earth began to shake as a large orange planet appeared in the sky: Gallifrey.

The entire Naismith mansion was in an uproar with people running as fast as possible away from the Time Lords and the planet, trying to find safety.

Wilfred, however, had gotten off the Vinvocci ship and rushed into the room to find the Doctor. One last man remained stranded in the room with the Time Lords, a technician stuck in one of the glass cubicles. Wilfred hurried over and stepped into the open cubicle, ignoring the Doctor's protests, allowing the technician to go free.

"But this is fantastic, isn't it?" the Master asked, naively. "The Time Lords restored."

The Doctor shook his head, trying to explain that not just the Time Lords were coming through, but rather everything from the war, things even Time Lords could never survive.

The Lord President spoke. "We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart. We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

The Master then begged Rassilion to take him as well, but Rassilion refused, calling him diseased. The Lord President aimed his metal gauntlet at the Master, but stopped short.

The Doctor stood resolute between Rassilion and the Master and aimed his revolver at the Lord President. As the Time Lords in front of and behind him each spoke, he switched his target back and forth, finally resting on Rassilion.

Behind the Lord President, two Time Lords had been kneeling on the ground, their hands covering their faces as a demonstration of dishonor and shame. The woman to Rassilion's left lowered her hands and stared directly at the Doctor. It was his mother. She nodded toward her son, and the Doctor understood what to do. He could never shoot a fellow man, but he had another option.

He quickly turned back toward the Master who was standing in front of the machine he had used to summon the Time Lords. "Get out of the way."

The Master almost smiled as he jumped agilely away from the machine.

The Doctor fired a single shot, breaking the link and sending the Time Lords back to the Time War.

"You'll die with me, Doctor," the Lord President said as he was pulled away, extending the metal gauntlet, which began to glow again.

The Doctor stared at him, accepting his fate, but then the Master spoke.

"Get out of the way."

As the Doctor stepped back, the Master attacked Rassilon with the extra energy he had acquired during his rebirth. "You did this to me!" he cried. "All of my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!" With each count, the Master stepped closer to the Lord President and shot more bolts of energy at his chest.

In a moment, the only Time Lord left in the room was the Doctor himself, as Gallifrey disappeared from the sky and the whole world returned to normal.

The Doctor began to move from where he had collapsed on the floor. "I'm alive. I'm still alive." Happiness and utter surprise filled his voice as he thought of Donna and how he could return to see her, having once again saved the world. He began to laugh, joyful tears coming to his eyes as he sat up.

Then, a sound from behind him, and he froze, all traces of elation leaving his face instantly as despair replaced them.

_Knock, knock, knock, knock._ The sound of knuckles rapping against glass.

_Knock, knock, knock, knock._ It came again. Four knocks.

_Knock, knock, knock, knock_. The Doctor resigned himself to his death. He knew what had happened.

_Knock, knock, knock, knock._ It was Wilfred, still trapped in the glass cubicle. "If you could let me out?" he asked, relieved but still tense.

The Doctor looked at him sadly. "Yeah. The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload. All the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing."

"Oh. Well, you'd better let me out, then," Wilfred responded, his voice almost joking, though the fear present was not completely masked.

The Doctor continued looking at his friend and did not move. "Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off." He held up the sonic screwdriver.

"I'm sorry. Look, just leave me," Wilfred said, showing little concern for his own life. "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."

The Doctor shook his head at his friend. "I could do so much more, Wilfred." He put his face in his hands, but then looked up at his friend. "I've lived too long. And besides," he offered Wilfred a small smile, "your granddaughter is getting married in the 51st century pretty soon. Do you think I could really turn up at the wedding without you? She'd kill me herself."

"No, no, please, please don't," Wilfred tried to convince him. "Please!"

"Wilfred, it's my honor." The Doctor brushed aside Wilfred's words. "Better be quick."

The Time Lord rushed into the vacant cubicle, allowing Wilfred to run out the other side. Immediately, a red light flooded the Doctor's side, as the Time Lord sunk to the bottom of the cubicle, clearly in a great deal of pain. After several moments, the power shut down and the Doctor returned to his feet, weakly, exiting the cubicle, which could now be opened.

"Well, there we are, then. Safe and sound," Wilfred said, trying to convince himself everything was fine. "Mind you, you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there." He motioned to the Doctor's war-beaten face.

As the Doctor ran his hands down his face, the cuts and scratches disappeared instantly. "It's started," the Doctor said, more to himself than to Wilfred. He was going to regenerate, but he knew he had time. _I've got a few hours before the radiation kills me, _he thought to himself. _I have so much to do; I hope there's enough time._

The Doctor, knowing now that each minute was extremely precious, looked down at his friend."Come on, Wilf. Your daughter's expecting you."

* * *

_A/N: Next chapter should be up within the week, hopefully a bit sooner this time since it won't be as involved to write as this one was._

_Thanks for reading, and, as always, please leave a review!_


	3. Last Goodbyes

_A/N: I would have had this up a bit earlier, but I've had the busiest week. This was a pretty sad chapter to write, but I think it turned out okay. At any rate, it was a much easier chapter to write than the last one. I was able to throw in some Torchwood references too, which was fun for me. I'm just a bit into Miracle Day at the moment. But anyway, enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who is property of the BBC, and I take no ownership of the show or any of its characters. Some scenes and dialogue are taken from _The End of Time Part 2_ by Russell T Davies._

* * *

After making their way back to the TARDIS, which was parked in a different section of the Naismith estate, Wilfred and the Doctor took the ship back to get Sylvia.

She met her father and the Doctor in front of her house, having heard the TARDIS from inside.

"Oh thank God you're alright," Sylvia said, relief flooding her voice as she hugged her father. "What happened?"

Wilfred began to explain, but the Doctor quickly stopped him. "We don't have a lot of time. Go and get your things; I have to take you two to Donna."

Sylvia still had many questions, but her father was able to guide her back into the house to get her things together.

Before fifteen minutes had even passed, the Doctor and his two companions were in the TARDIS and on their way.

The Doctor worked the controls absently, his mind on other things. _I'll stop here and let these two off, and then I can go see everyone and still make it back for the wedding. And then I can see Rose._ The Doctor went over plans in his head.

Wilfred leaned against a railing, trying to refrain from laughing at his daughter, who was slowly moving about the ship, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in shock.

'It's… it's… it's bigger on the inside," Sylvia finally said, taking a deep breath.

The Doctor looked up from the console at this comment and grinned. "That reminds me of Donna the first day I met her," said the Doctor, more to himself than to his passengers. "She was in her wedding dress, right in the middle of walking down the aisle. She'll be doing that again soon, I suppose?" The Doctor laughed faintly. "Good thing this one's not helping out a giant spider." The Doctor paused for a moment. "Well, I hope he's not helping out a giant spider; I never thought to check. I'm sure Donna did though. She wouldn't want to make that mistake again."

As the Doctor spoke, the TARDIS reached its destination: just outside of Lee's flat. The Time Lord half-leaped to the door and opened it to allow Wilfred and Sylvia to disembark. He was excited to see his best friend again, if only for a few minutes.

Sylvia took a single step out of the box and stopped dead. "We've moved. We've really moved."

"Well of course you've moved!" said a happy, attitude laced, voice from a few feet away. Donna and Lee had come out to meet them.

"Donna!" Sylvia raced over to hug her daughter. "Oh, Donna. You're alright!"

Donna gave her mother a look as though she was crazy. "Yeah, should I _not _be fine?" She rolled her eyes, though not at all meanly. She was smiling brightly, and she kept stealing glances at her fiancé beside her, which only caused her smile to grow bigger.

Wilfred noticed his granddaughter's demeanor at once and thought to himself that this was the happiest he had ever seen his Donna. "You look wonderful, sweetheart," he said as he hugged her. "It's so good to see you."

"It's great to see you too, Granddad," Donna replied, clearly having missed him. Then she turned to the handsome, dark-haired man beside her. "Mum, Grandad, this is Lee. And Lee, this is my mum and my granddad."

The three exchanged pleasantries, Lee stumbling nervously over his words.

"So, when's the wedding?" Wilfred asked, looking back and forth between his daughter and her fiancé.

"Two weeks!" Donna replied brightly, her smile growing somehow larger.

Sylvia stared. "Two weeks! But that's so soon!"

"Well," Donna said, defending herself, "the Doctor could have brought you here two weeks ago; that's when he left." She paused, finally looking up at her closest friend, who she had not yet greeted. "How long were you gone? What happened with the Ood?" Then as she saw the Doctor's face more clearly, she added, "are you okay?"

The Doctor stood at the entrance to the TARDIS, leaning back on the door, staring at Donna, his smile not reaching his eyes. He looked somehow both happy and sad at the same time. "It's been a few days," he said, flatly. "Everything worked out in the end. Actually, Wilfred can tell you all about it." The Doctor pointed at Donna's grandfather, attempting to throw the focus away from himself.

Donna narrowed her eyes, which did not leave the Doctor's face. She knew the Time Lord well – he was her best friend after all – and she realized that he had avoided her last question.

The Doctor, seeing Donna scrutinizing him, tried better to mask his sadness and fear, but he could tell that Donna saw right through him. He cleared his throat loudly and began opening the door to the TARDIS. "I, um, have to go actually," he said, trying to slip away quickly, but Donna, naturally, had no intention of letting him leave.

"Oi! Space Man," Donna said, overbold. "You just got here. You are _not_ leaving yet."

The Doctor retreated slowly into the TARDIS. "I have some stuff to do…" He trailed off as he began to close the door behind him.

"Stupid Time Lord," Donna muttered to herself as she stepped over and stopped the TARDIS door from closing. She turned around and caught Lee's eye, motioning for him to take her family inside while she dealt with the Doctor.

"Come in!" Lee said to Donna's family behind her. "W- W- We need to get better acqu - quainted."

Donna smiled at the sound of her fiancé and hoped, not for the first time, that her family would love him as much as she did. Then she shook her head knowing she could worry about that later; the Doctor was her main concern at the moment.

Upon entering the TARDIS, which seemed very happy to have it's resident part-Time Lord back, Donna found the Doctor standing by the console, staring at the controls.

"Out with it," Donna ordered, concern softening the edge to her voice. "What's going on? What happened?"

The Doctor turned around to face Donna. His eyes looked incredibly sad, as though he was about to start crying. "I don't have time, Donna. I hardly have any time."

Donna was confused. "What do you mean you don't have any time? You have all the time in the world!" She spread her arms out, as though to represent all of time and space.

The Doctor shook his head. "Not like that," he said, taking a deep breath, considering how to begin. "Ask Wilf for the whole story, but the main thing is that time almost ended. That was what the Ood wanted to see me about; they had dreamt of the end of time. But I saved it. I saved everyone." The Doctor stared, sadly, at the grating beneath his feet.

"But that's good, isn't it?" Donna asked, taking a step toward her friend.

The Doctor nodded, looking up at her. "Yeah." He paused. "The thing is… Remember that prophecy? From the woman in London?"

"'He will knock four times,'" Donna quoted, nodding.

"Well," the Doctor paused. "He knocked."

Donna inhaled sharply. "Who?"

The Doctor almost smiled as he answered. "Your granddad."

"What?" Donna said, utterly baffled by what the Doctor was saying. "What to you mean my grand-"

"Like I said," the Doctor interrupted, "Wilfred can explain everything. He doesn't really know I'm dying. Well he might know, but I don't think he wants to acknowledge it." The Doctor stopped, watching the sadness that was rapidly appearing on Donna's face. "It was radiation, so it didn't kill me instantly. I have a few hours, and with that I can say goodbye to everyone, one last time, as me. That's why I have to go."

Tears came to Donna's eyes. "But… but Doctor, you can't just die…"

"It's already happening, Donna. I'm sorry." The Doctor closed the distance between he and his friend and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'll be back for the wedding. I promise," he said softly into her hair, as she rested her head on his shoulder. "And then I'll take you home, one last trip in the TARDIS."

Donna looked up at him through the tears that were falling thickly down her face. "But will I ever see you after that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. But it won't be me. It'll be some new man, some new personality. Not me."

The Doctor took a deep breath, stepping back from his crying friend. "Okay, Donna. You need to listen to me. Get back inside. Be happy! Enjoy these next two weeks, and enjoy your wedding. I'll be there no matter what."

Donna wiped the tears from her face, nodding resolutely. She walked towards the door, but then stopped and turned to face him. "You better make it on time. Just because you're a Time Lord doesn't mean you're allowed to be late to my wedding."

The Doctor laughed. "I won't be late! Who do you think I am?"

Donna glared at him, as though reminding him of all the times he had gotten them to planets and cities at different times than he had meant to.

"Fine! Fine!" The Doctor said, shooing her with his hands. "I'm late a lot! Now get out of my TARDIS!"

Donna shook her head at him and exited the ship, her eyes still red from crying, but a small smile visible on her face.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor set the coordinates for Britain as he wiped away a tear that had begun to slide down his cheek. He couldn't start crying yet, there were so many people he still had to see. He knew that the TARDIS would take him to exactly when and where he would be needed so he barely bothered with the controls. He and the ship were linked, and she knew where he had to go.

Mickey Smith and Martha Jones, _well Martha Smith-Jones now_, the Doctor thought to himself with a small laugh, were first on the list. The Doctor had only seen the pair once since he and Donna had attended their wedding several months before. Donna had forced the Doctor to go, threatening to fly the TARDIS there herself if she had to. At that point, Donna had only just begun learning to pilot the ship, and, despite her Time Lord senses, there was a good chance that the ship would have crashed had Donna been at the controls. The Doctor, realizing this, had figured it would be best to just give in and go, and, really, it had been a good day. Martha and Mickey had been so happy that he and Donna had made it, and Captain Jack and the other two members of his Torchwood team had been excited to see them as well. Upon returning to the TARDIS that night, Donna had smiled at him in a way that clearly meant "I told you so," to which the Doctor sighed, smiled back, and told her that she had been right in making him go.

At the wedding, the Doctor had found out that Mickey was trying to persuade Martha to leave UNIT and work as a freelance alien hunter, dealing with small extraterrestrial incidents with little to no government involvement. Jack, however, had wanted her to join Torchwood, as he had lost his medical officer some months before, but, before Martha had made up her mind, Torchwood had been destroyed, leaving her and Mickey to go freelance together.

With this knowledge, it came as no surprise to the Doctor when he landed the TARDIS and caught a glimpse of the couple attempting to track down a Sontaran warrior.

The Doctor grabbed the mallet he used to assist in piloting the TARDIS, an appropriate weapon to use against a Sontaran, and followed them to an abandoned factory, keeping a good distance away from his friends, but sticking close to the Sontaran. The Doctor watched as the couple found themselves down in a trench in a field, looking back for any sign of the warrior. Even far from them, the Doctor could see their smiles as they joked with one another.

Unbeknownst to them, the Sontaran had climbed up on a metal bridge and had set his sight on the couple below. The Doctor was able to creep up behind the soldier and use the TARDIS mallet to hit the probic vent in the back of the Sontaran's head, his only weak spot. The soldier fell over instantly, and a loud metallic clang rang out.

Mickey was pouring over a map below him, but Martha looked around, trying to spot their attacker. Instead of a Sontaran, however, her eyes met those of her old friend. The Doctor could see her face light up as she tried to call Mickey's attention to him. The pair shouted out to the Time Lord in welcome, beginning to walk toward him, but the Doctor offered no greeting. As he looked out at his two past companions, he simply nodded, expressionless, walking quickly down a set of stairs and returning to the TARDIS. His friends were safe and happy, and that was all that the Doctor had ever wanted for them.

Next, the TARDIS landed on a street corner in a small town. The Doctor could see a young boy walking along the sidewalk, talking to his friend on his mobile. The Time Lord knew this was Luke, Sarah Jane's only son. The boy was distracted, and he began to cross the street without noticing the silver car speeding towards him. The Doctor raced across the road and pushed the boy out of the way, saving his life.

"It's you," Luke said, awed, when the pair had righted themselves.

The Doctor nodded solemnly and then turned around. He could hear Luke trying to say something else, but the Doctor had already begun to walk back to the TARDIS.

Behind him, Luke shouted for his mother who was coming up the other side of the road. And so as the Doctor reached the TARDIS, he was able to look back at Sarah Jane, his old companion, and nod. As he raised his hand in a small gesture of goodbye, he knew that Sarah Jane understood why he had come and what was going to happen to him. At this, he returned to the TARDIS.

On the Doctor and Donna's first trip back to Earth after Martha and Mickey's wedding, they had met up with the happy couple who had informed them of their new careers as alien hunters, but also of the destruction of Torchwood and the disappearance of Jack. He had suffered huge losses in a crisis that almost destroyed the entire world and had decided to travel to clear his head. Martha had not seen her friend for months, and she had asked the Doctor to let her know if he saw any sign of him.

Now, the Doctor needed to find his friend and try to help him somehow. The TARDIS was able to locate the ex-Time Agent easily - he _was_ the only being in all of existence that was unable to die – and soon the Doctor had found Jack in a crowded intergalactic bar, staring dejectedly at the drink in front of him. The Doctor understood how Jack felt; the Time Lord had lost so many people himself.

Next to Captain Jack was another familiar face for the Doctor, the shipman Alonso from the Titanic spacecraft he had helped save several years before. Even as depressed as he was feeling, the Doctor could not help but smile, just barely, at the sight of the man who had fulfilled his goal of several years: to be able to appropriately say "Allons-y Alonso!"

The Doctor pulled out a small scrap of paper and wrote quickly "His name is Alonso." He asked the bartender to give the paper to Jack and tell him who had written it. As Jack received the note, he looked up at the Doctor, completely shocked. The Time Lord nodded at the note in his hand, and Jack unfolded it, offering his friend a confused glance. The Doctor gestured his head toward the shipman sitting beside his friend. At this, the Doctor saluted Jack, who instantly saluted the Doctor in return, and, with that, the Doctor departed, hoping that he had helped.

_No matter what happens_, the Doctor thought as he returned to the TARDIS, _at least I know he does live a long and happy life… even if part of it is as a head in a jar._ The Doctor laughed softly to himself, thinking of his encounters with the legendary Face of Boe, an alien who just so happened to be a future version of his dear friend.

The Doctor's last visit before returning to Donna was to a woman he had never met before: the great-granddaughter of Joan Redfern, the nurse he had fallen in love with as a human immediately before World War I. The Doctor needed to know if she had had a good life after he had left her.

The Doctor found the woman he was looking for, Verity Newman, signing copies of an edited version of her great-grandmother's diary that she had recently published. The Doctor saw the book was titled _A Journal of Impossible Things, _and the cover was an illustration of the fob watch that had contained the Doctor's Time Lord essence when he and Martha spent several months in 1913.

As the Doctor set his recently purchased copy of the book down to be signed, Verity asked who it was for, without looking up at him.

"The Doctor," the Time Lord answered, emotionless.

"To the Doctor," Verity said out loud as she wrote it. "Funny, that's the name he used." As she finished her signature, the significance of the Doctor's title seemed to hit her, and she paused, as though she was afraid of what she was going to find when she saw the man before her. Finally, she handed him the book and looked up to meet his eyes.

"Was she happy… in the end?" the Doctor asked, almost desperately, though his face remained blank.

Verity sat up straighter in her chair, as though attempting to hide the shock from her face. "Yes. Yes, she was," she answered with a nod.

The Time Lord continued to look down at her, remembering Joan and his time spent as a human.

"Were you?" Verity asked, curiously, halting the Doctor's train of thought.

The Doctor smiled at Verity, his lower lip beginning to tremble and tears coming to his eyes as he thought of the events of the past few days. He picked up his book and was about to turn away, when he decided that he did have an answer. "Yes. I was happy."

As he walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor had to think of Donna. If he had lost her the year before when he had left Rose and everyone else, he had no idea if he would have been able to answer affirmatively to that question. The Doctor was never happy on his own (a fact he hated to admit, but was still true nonetheless) and Donna had been there for him as the greatest friend he could have ever asked for. Yes, he missed Rose Tyler each and every day, but, with Donna, he had been better, and, most certainly, he had been happy.

With that thought in mind, he stepped into the TARDIS to return to his closest friend. However, a thought quickly struck him: he had not purchased a wedding present. He knew Donna would have no problems if he showed up empty handed, considering the circumstances, but he wanted her to have at least something from him. Traveling ahead a week or so, he was able to discover the winning lottery numbers for a huge sum of money, but, being the Doctor, he never carried change around. Instead, having the most brilliant of ideas, he popped back in time to a couple of decades earlier in Chiswick.

A good-natured looking red-haired man was strolling leisurely down the street, and the Doctor ran up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, but could you lend me a quid? I'm just a bit short," the Doctor said, convincingly.

The man laughed as he pulled out his wallet and handed him the money. "Have it. Have that on me," he said with a smile. "Now, if you'd asked my wife for anything, she'd probably have beaten you off and called you a few choice names for starters." He laughed again. "Still, not a better woman to be found anywhere." He smiled at the thought. "I'm Geoffrey Noble, by the way."

The Doctor grinned. "I'm the Doctor." They shook hands. "Thanks so much, Geoffrey, but I really must be off."

Geoffrey waved as the Doctor hurried away. "Nice to meet you, Doctor!"

"Nice to meet you too."

The Doctor hopped back in the TARDIS and returned to where he had been after meeting Verity to purchase the winning ticket. _Donna will definitely appreciate that,_ the Doctor smiled to himself, as he set the TARDIS coordinates again. He had one more idea, and so he made the quickest of stops at the library – the huge, Vashta Nerada-infested one he and Donna had been to several years before. CAL, the library computer in the mind of a young girl, was very helpful in assisting the Doctor in his search, and soon he was off to the wedding.

The Doctor arrived at the small chapel where the service was to be held with only a few minutes to spare. He was met by a joyful looking Wilfred and a harried looking Sylvia, who both hugged him and said they were glad he had made it.

"Donna wanted to see you when you arrived," Wilfred said, smiling. "She's just in there." He gestured through the open chapel doors.

The Doctor followed Wilfred and Sylvia inside where they were greeted by an emotionally charged Donna.

"It's bloody well time you showed up!" she said far louder than was advisable in the tiny building. "You nearly missed it!"

The Doctor smiled, thinking of how much he was going to miss his fiery red-head, and he walked over to give her a hug.

Donna hugged him back, laughing, and said quietly, "I'm so glad you're here."

The Doctor pulled back and grinned at her. "Wouldn't have missed it for the world."

That same moment, Sylvia hurried over to the Doctor to get him to take his seat. "It's about to start!" she said in a loud whisper.

The Doctor walked down to the front of the chapel as Sylvia had one last hurried conversation with her daughter. Only the front few pews were filled, mostly with friends and colleagues of Lee.

As the Doctor debated over where to sit, Sylvia rushed down the aisle and pulled him up to the first row to sit beside her.

Lee, standing next to the altar, smiled nervously at the Doctor. The Time Lord grinned back.

Within moments, the ceremony had started, and very shortly afterward, Donna and Lee were married, in the real world, finally.

There was a small reception in the chapel hall next door, but the Doctor knew they had to leave soon. He had one more stop to make, and he could feel his regeneration inching closer.

The happy couple greeted each of their guests quickly, the Doctor having given Donna a look that said plainly that they did not have much time, and soon only Donna, Lee, Wilfred, Sylvia, and the Doctor remained in the hall.

"Are you all packed?" the Doctor asked, glancing around at the other four in the room.

Each of them nodded in response: Sylvia and Wilfred seeming relieved to return home, Lee a bit sad to be leaving, and Donna upset, knowing this was to be her last trip in the TARDIS and her last few moments with her closest friend.

The Doctor helped pack all of his friends' belongings into the TARDIS, Lee having the most since he had completely emptied his flat, and within a few moments, the Doctor was at the controls bringing them home.

When they landed in Chiswick, the Doctor helped to quickly unload the TARDIS, and then he began his goodbyes.

"You'll be back to visit, won't you?" Sylvia asked after hugging the Time Lord.

The Doctor offered a sad smile, but did not answer.

Next he turned to Wilfred. "Goodbye, Wilf, and thank you for everything."

Wilfred hugged him, tears welling up in his eyes as he realized this was goodbye forever.

To Donna and Lee at the end of the line, he handed an envelope. "Wedding present," he explained, prompted by the couple's confused glances.

Donna opened it, Lee, Wilfred, and Sylvia watching with baited breath as she found the lottery ticket and a wedding photo of her and Lee inside.

"When did you take this?" Donna asked, holding the picture up to the Doctor.

"Look at it," he said, in lieu of an answer.

Donna quickly studied the photo and then gasped. "This is… this is from the computer in the Library."

At her words, Lee took the picture from Donna's hand and stared at it. "It is… How d- d- did you get it?" Lee looked at the Doctor, amazed.

"I went back and found it in the computer. CAL saved all sorts of things, including your wedding pictures."

Donna shook her head in disbelief. "I… I can't believe it," she said finally.

The Doctor smiled. "So you like it then?"

Donna and Lee both nodded, at a loss for words, as the handed the photo to Sylvia and Wilfred so they could take a look.

Then Donna noticed the other item that had been in the envelope. "A lottery ticket?" she asked with her eyes raised.

"Maybe you'll get lucky," the Doctor replied mysteriously.

Donna's face broke into a huge grin. "No. Way. But where'd you get the money?"

At this the Doctor smiled to himself. "I just popped back in time. Borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geoffrey Noble, his name was." The Doctor glanced at Sylvia whose hand had risen to cover her mouth, which had fallen open in shock at his words. "Have it, he said. Have that on me."

Both Donna and Sylvia looked as though they were about to cry.

"Oh my God." Sylvia whispered.

The Doctor smiled again, but then grew sad. "I really do have to go." He turned to Lee. "You take good care of her. She is so special, and you better treat her right."

Lee nodded at the Doctor's words, and Donna smiled.

The Doctor continued. "Plus she's part Time Lord, and there's no stopping her from slapping you upside the head, so watch out for that."

Donna glowered at him until the Doctor laughed and said he was joking.

He and Lee shook hands, and, finally, the Doctor turned to Donna. Lee, Wilfred, and Sylvia backed away to give the friends one final moment together.

"So, how was your trip?" Donna asked to break the silence that had fallen between them.

"Good," the Doctor replied solemnly, "I saw Martha and Mickey, Sarah Jane and her son, Luke, Captain Jack, and the great-granddaughter of a woman I knew once. I just have one more stop to make."

"Rose," Donna said, knowingly.

The Doctor nodded. "I want to go back to before I met her, maybe a few months before, just to see her, to tell her that wonderful things are ahead of her." He smiled sadly.

"Isn't there a way you could get back to the parallel world?" Donna asked, wanting to help him. "Granddad told me all about the end of time thing, and I'd think the barriers of the universe are pretty weak right now. Couldn't you could get through?"

The Doctor dismissed the idea without a thought. "I can't."

"Okay." Donna nodded sadly and then sighed. "Well, this is it."

The Doctor smiled. "Donna Noble, we had the best of times. The best. You are absolutely brilliant. Be happy and just have the greatest life. You deserve that. You saved the world, and you saved me. Thank you so very, very much."

Donna began to cry, tears cascading down her face faster than she could wipe them away. "I'm gonna miss you. You're my best friend. Please, please try to come back. I don't care if you're a different man; please just try to see me. Please."

"Maybe." The Doctor pulled Donna into a hug, so similar to all the hugs they had shared in the past few years, yet somehow completely different.

"Goodbye," he said as he stepped away from his still sobbing friend, and then he retreated to the TARDIS.

As the Doctor looked back one last time, Lee had gone to Donna and wrapped his arm around her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. Wilfred and Sylvia remained near the house, watching the Time Lord. Wilfred raised his arm in solute, and the Doctor nodded in return. Glancing back to Donna, he saw that she had lifted her head up to see the Doctor go. He offered her one last small smile, and then he turned and walked back into his ship.

As the Doctor moved the ship into the Time Vortex, Donna's words about seeing his Rose again, one last time, kept coming back to him. _What if the universe's walls are weak enough for me to slip through for a few minutes? _he thought, quickly. _What if there is a crack in the barrier large enough to fit through without causing any problems? Everything must be so out of order right now that I could get away with it. _The Doctor was unsure of the success for such a trip, but he decided it was worth it to try. The idea of one more moment with Rose made him happier than he could ever admit.

After the TARDIS scanned the walls of the universe, the Doctor was left with one conclusion: it could be done. He would have only a small amount of time, fifteen minutes at the most, but it was enough.

The Doctor instantly began circling the TARDIS console, fiddling with the controls, setting course for the parallel universe. He had one last chance to say goodbye to Rose Tyler.

* * *

_A/N: The next chapter is the one I have been waiting to write since I started this story, so I hope I can get it up soon. I head off to college in just a few days, so we'll see if I can finish before I go._

_Please leave a review and thanks for reading!_


	4. Rose Tyler

_A/N: I am currently an hour or so away from leaving for college, so I figured I should put this chapter up before I left. It's probably the scene I enjoyed writing the most, except maybe Donna at the library at the very beginning, and I wish I could have made it longer, but there are time constraints, both in my actual life and in the story itself. Only one more chapter to go after this. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: __Doctor Who is property of the BBC, and I take no ownership of the show or any of its characters. Some dialogue in this chapter is taken from _The End of Time Part 2___ by Russell T. Davies._

* * *

The TARDIS was extremely reluctant to travel into the parallel world, despite the fact that it was _actually_ safe enough for the ship to enter the other universe for a short period of time. However, even with the ship's objection to its current course, the Doctor was undeterred. Nothing could stop him from seeing Rose one last time.

After several minutes fighting with the ship and racing around the controls, the TARDIS landed, and the Doctor poked his head out to see where they were. Pete's World was incredibly tricky to land in properly, as the Doctor had found out in the past, so he could only hope that the ship had made it to London.

It seemed that luck was on his side when the Doctor glanced around and saw that he was surrounded by hundreds of buildings and busy streets with blimps filling the sky: unmistakably parallel London.

The Doctor grinned to himself as he stepped out of the ship, patting her front doors affectionately. "I knew you had it in you. I'll be back soon!" He rushed off into the city.

As he ran toward the city center, he realized with a start that he had not thought this plan through. He did not have the faintest idea of where Rose and his doppelgänger might be.

_Maybe Torchwood?_ he thought quickly. _Or the Tyler Estate? But Rose probably has a flat, and that could be anywhere._

As the Doctor reached a street lined with shops and crammed with happy shoppers, he slowed to a walk, looking all around for any sign of Rose. Already five minutes had passed of the precious fifteen he was allotted.

Just as he was about to run off and try the Torchwood building, he heard a voice that made him stop dead.

"Tony! You come back here! Wait for Mum and Dad!"

The Doctor whirled around to see Pete and Jackie Tyler racing up the opposite side of the street attempting to chase down a small boy who looked about four years old.

Pete soon caught the boy and scooped him up into his arms. Pete and Tony's voices were lost amid the sounds of rushing cars and chatting shoppers, but the Doctor was able to hear Jackie reprimand her son for running away and tell him that he couldn't just run off to the toy store whenever he liked.

An enormous smile appeared on the Doctor's face as he saw Rose's mum for the first time in over a year, and he could not help but laugh at the fact that hers was the only voice he could distinctly hear over all the traffic.

As Jackie and Pete walked off, their son between them, the Doctor dashed across the street to catch up with them, barely avoiding being run down by several annoyed drivers.

He was about to follow after the family, but a quick glance to his left told him that this idea was no longer necessary. Less than a block away was the person he had traveled here to see.

Rose Tyler had practically danced around the corner in his direction. She looked almost exactly the same as the Doctor remembered her: the joyful skipping that made her hair swirl around her face and a smile that melted his hearts.

Holding her hand and grinning just as widely as the blonde woman by his side - though not actually bouncing as she was - was the other Doctor. And in his arms was a baby, so small that it must have been only a few months old.

The Doctor's mouth fell open and tears came to his eyes as he took in the sight before him. It was the perfect picture of happiness, and it was what he had secretly always wanted: a human life with the woman he loved and the chance to be a proper father.

For a moment, the Doctor considered running back to the TARDIS and returning home without talking to the couple in front of him. He could see they were happy, and he hated to interrupt that with his impending death. However, just the sight of Rose made his hearts ache and made him think of the last time he had seen her, when he had left her on a beach without a goodbye. Now that he had a second chance, he had to do it properly.

The Doctor began to walk towards the couple, who seemed to be so wrapped up in each other that they did not notice him.

"Rose Tyler," he said when he was about ten feet in front of her.

The woman looked up and gasped, bringing her hands to cover her face. "Oh my God. Doctor."

The Doctor grinned. "It's been a while."

At these words, Rose ran to him and pulled him into a tight embrace. "You left without saying goodbye," she said into his shoulder, her voice shaky as she began to cry. 'You just left.

The Doctor pulled back from the most important woman in his universe. "I'm so sorry. But that's why I came back."

Then he turned to the other Doctor who had walked over to them and was now looking at the Doctor curiously, though not at all unkindly. "It's good to see you too," the Doctor said. "And who's that you have there?" He gestured toward the baby in the other Doctor's arms.

Rose stepped back beside the other Doctor, and both of them smiled hugely as they held out the baby. "This is Jack," said Rose, almost unable to remove her eyes from the child. "Named after the Captain, of course. He's two months old and already completely brilliant. I bet he's going to be a genius by the time he's a year old." She smiled proudly. "It's that little bit of Time Lord in him." She looked lovingly up at the other Doctor who smiled back at her the same way.

The Doctor looked happily down at the baby boy. "Hello Jack! Let's hope you aren't too much like your Dad, or you'll run so fast your parents won't be able to catch you! And I hope you aren't too much like your namesake either. Not sure Captain Jack's the best role model."

Rose and both Doctors laughed at this, each fondly remembering their undying companion.

"Have you seen him at all Doctor? Jack, I mean," Rose asked, clearly missing her friend.

The smile slipped from the Doctor's face as he thought back to the day's events. He had seven minutes left, and only five before he knew he should return to the TARDIS. "I have. I've actually seen everyone today. Martha and Mickey, they're married by the way, Sarah Jane and her son Luke, Jack, Joan Redfern's great-granddaughter." The other Doctor looked at his counterpart sharply at this statement as the Time Lord continued. "And, of course, I've been with Donna all this time. She got married today. Remember her Lee from the library? She found him."

The other Doctor stared at him, a smile growing on his face as he drank in the news of all his friends, particularly what the Doctor had said about Donna. The Doctor knew that this Doctor felt a special connection with their redheaded companion due to their metacrisis.

Rose's mouth had fallen open when the Doctor said that Martha and Mickey were together, but she too smiled hugely at the news of Donna's marriage.

"Did they all come to the wedding?" she asked, curiously.

The Doctor sighed. "No. None of them even knew. I saw them all separately. I had to say goodbye."

When the other Doctor and Rose stared blankly at him, the Doctor held up his hand so they could see the slight golden glow that was emanating from it.

"I'm regenerating. Time almost ended because of the Master and the other Time Lords and the Time War – I'm sorry, I don't have time to explain – but I was exposed to massive quantities of radiation just a few hours ago. I'm very close to dying. But luckily, time almost ending meant that the walls of the universe are so weak that I could slip through, just for a bit. I only have a few minutes before I have to go."

The other Doctor nodded, understanding, while Rose just looked stunned.

"I'm so glad you came," said the other Doctor, speaking for the first time. "I was worried about what would happen to you."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Worried about me?" he scoffed. "You know me – well you are me – always surviving. We could make it through anything."

The other Doctor laughed. "I was just worried that you would have to leave Donna and then be on your own. We both know that's never good."

The Doctor nodded solemnly. "I know."

Then Rose broke in. "You can't die again, Doctor. You just can't!" The Doctor could see the despair on her face from when she had seen him regenerate all those years ago.

"I'm sorry, but it's already begun," he looked at her sadly, but then his face brightened as he remembered something. "Your TARDIS! Is it full grown yet?"

The couple before him broke into huge grins. "Yes!" the other Doctor said, practically jumping up and down as he spoke rapidly. "It's brilliant! It can't go too far yet, but we've already traveled around a bit and explored this universe. It's just a bit different from ours, which makes everything brand new. It's wonderful!"

Rose laughed at the other Doctor's enthusiasm, and, as she moved place her hand back in his, the Doctor noticed the diamond ring resting on her finger.

"So how long have you two been married then?" the Doctor asked casually.

Rose and the other Doctor shared a loving glance. "Since just a few months after you left us here. It's been almost two years here since that day."

The Doctor nodded and checked the time. Three minutes until he needed to get back to the TARDIS.

"So what have you been doing besides taking care of Jack?" The Doctor offered another huge smile at the sleeping child.

"Still at Torchwood," Rose said brightly. "Perfect place for us, I think. And since Dad's head, he doesn't mind if we go off in the TARDIS all the time. We're 'exploring new worlds' which is helpful for the Institute, and a lot of fun for us." She grinned. "We're 'expert consultants,'" Rose added, officially, making the Doctor laugh.

"Brilliant," the Doctor smiled. "And how's your mum and Pete and Tony? I saw them running up the street."

Rose laughed at this. "Tony's proving to be quite the handful for them, but Mum loves it. And she loves having a grandchild too. She positively dotes on Jack. And Tony's going to love having a friend to play with when Jack grows up a bit. For now, Tony just plays with the Doctor." She shot her husband a smile, which he returned, laughing.

"So you both are happy?" He looked at Rose and then the other Doctor, each of whom smiled and nodded.

"We really are," Rose answered for both of them. "And you, Doctor? Are you happy?"

The Doctor grinned. "I'm always happy anytime I get to see you."

Tears returned to Rose's eyes as she leaned into her husband, who put his arm around her.

The Doctor checked the time again. Two minutes. He sighed. "I have to go then. I wish I could tell you everything I've done since you left." He was talking more to Rose than to the other Doctor, trying to express to her just how much she meant to him. "I'd love to tell you all about the giant cyberman we fought and about the girl in London that Donna slapped for trying to kiss me and about how Donna found Lee and about Adelaide Brooke!" He turned to the other Doctor. "I met THE Adelaide Brooke!" He smiled to himself. "And I wish you could tell me all about your life here. I want to know everything, but there's no time. Of all the things for a Time Lord to run out of." He shook his head and paused, trying to figure out how to word what he needed to say to the woman who was more important to him that anyone else in the universe.

"Rose," he began, "I never got to tell you exactly how much you mean to me. You helped me so much, in so many ways. I'd have been dead so many times if it wasn't for you, and I could never have been this man standing here without you. You made me better, and I can see that you did the same for him." The Doctor gestured toward the half human version of himself. "You're so special, Rose Tyler, so incredibly special. The last time I saw you, I left without saying goodbye because I knew that if I stopped and looked back again, I never would have left. But I'm back to fix that, because no one deserves to be left anywhere without a real goodbye, least of all, you."

The Doctor stepped forward, his arms outstretched, and Rose met him in another embrace.

"Thank you," she said softly.

After they broke apart, tears still running down Rose's cheeks, the Doctor turned to his counterpart. "You take care of her and do everything for her. Show her the entire universe and never forget how lucky you are to have her with you."

A pang of jealousy struck the Doctor as he spoke these words, but he knew he had no place to say anything. Rose had a man she could spend her life with, and the Doctor could never damage that, even if he was not about to regenerate.

"And thank you for making her happy," the Doctor finished, all traces of envy disappearing from his voice as the two Doctors shook hands.

"And goodbye to you, little Jack," the Doctor almost cooed, leaning over the baby in the other Doctor's arms. "Grow up and see the stars, just like your mum and dad."

The Doctor straightened up and smiled sadly at the couple in front of him. "The Doctor and Rose Tyler, married with a child, traveling in the TARDIS. Now that's how it should be."

Just as he was about to turn away, Rose spoke. "Doctor, promise me something, please."

The Doctor looked at her sharply. "What?" he asked, confused.

"Find someone. Once you regenerate, find someone else. Another girl working in a shop, or in a hospital or as a temp, or even a little child who needs a friend – just find someone and don't ever be alone. Not ever."

The Doctor stared at the woman in front of him, unable to find the words to reply to her statement.

"And, Doctor," Rose continued. "Try to come back. Even if it's just for a few minutes like this, it would mean to world to me if you would let us know that you're okay."

The Doctor nodded, and, having regained his ability to speak, added a verbal affirmation. "I'll try."

The Doctor looked at his watch and saw that he was already late. He had to be out of this dimension in about a minute and a half. "I really do have to go. Goodbye Doctor, and goodbye Rose Tyler. I hope we'll meet again someday."

The Doctor turned and ran up the street as fast as he could without knocking anyone over.

As he reached the corner and was about to cross the street, someone barreled into him.

"Doctor! What in the world are you doing here? You are the other one? The Time Lord one, right?" It was Jackie Tyler, Pete and Tony standing a few feet away, confused.

"Hello, Jackie! Yes it's me, and it's really lovely to see you, but I have to go. I really have to go." He wrenched himself from her grasp and walked over to Pete and Tony.

"Nice to see you, Pete." He shook the other man's hand, though Pete did so very mechanically, trying to figure out what was going on.

"And nice to meet you, Tony." He patted the boy on the head. "I look like your sister's husband, but I'm not. We're the same person, but I don't live here."

Tony stared at him, not understanding a word of what the Doctor had said.

Finally, the Doctor moved to Jackie and gave her a hug. "I only have a minute. I've got to go. I wish we had some time to catch up, but I'm about to destroy two different universes if I stay, plus I'm regenerating. Bye! Good to see you!" He ran off, leaving behind an extremely confused Jackie Tyler.

As the Doctor turned onto the street that led to the TARDIS, he allowed himself one glance back. Rose and the other Doctor were watching him leave, Rose holding the baby now, and the other Doctor's arms around her. The Doctor nodded at the two of them, receiving a nod from Rose and a wave from the other Doctor in response. Then he turned and sprinted toward the TARDIS.

He had less than a minute to be out of this dimension and back in his universe, and he knew time would be extremely tight.

As he finally reached the TARDIS and threw open the doors, the ship seemed to be getting anxious about their present location and was reprimanding the Doctor for taking them there in the first place.

"I know, I know. We're leaving now," the Doctor said, trying to comfort his ship as he worked the controls. He soon found that it was much easier to leave Pete's World than to arrive, as the TARDIS was not fighting him on this journey.

With only seconds go spare, the Doctor made it into his world and drifted into the time vortex. After accomplishing this, the Doctor let himself collapse in the jump seat, exhausted. He could feel regeneration creeping up on him, and he knew it was only a matter of minutes before he would be a new man.

But a few minutes was enough time for one last stop.

The TARDIS landed in a London street where it had landed many times before. Snow fell all around the box as the Doctor stepped out and walked to a small covered alcove, directly across from the Powell Estates.

He waited less than a minute before he heard the sounds of two women coming up the street.

"Too late now, I've missed it. Midnight. Mickey's going to be calling me every minute. This is your fault," said one.

"No, it is not!" replied the other, her mother. "It's Jimbo! He said he was gonna give us a lift and then he said his axle's broke! I can't help it!"

"Get rid of him, Mum! He's useless!"

"Listen to you! With a mechanic!" The older woman's voice grew sad. "Be fair though. In my time of life, I'm not gonna do much better." Both women stopped.

"Don't be like that. Never know, there could be someone out there." The younger woman placed her hand on her mother's shoulder affectionately.

"Maybe. One day." She looked up at the stars thoughtfully, but then smiled. "Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!" the other replied, giving her mother a hug and then pulling away. "Don't stay out all night!"

"Try and stop me!" The older woman walked off.

As the daughter passed by the Doctor's alcove, a wave of pain washed over him and he let out a groan, his regeneration was only moments away.

The woman stopped and turned to him. "You all right, mate?"

"Yeah," the Doctor replied, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Too much to drink?" she asked, good-naturedly.

"Something like that," the Doctor said, thinking to himself that all the radiation he absorbed was rather like having too much to drink.

Despite his pain, he was unable to take his eyes off the woman in front of him. The last human being these eyes would see would be his Rose Tyler, just as it should be.

"Maybe it's time you went home," Rose suggested.

"Yeah."

"Anyway," she added, her smile making the Doctor feel as thought he was not regenerating at all. "Happy New Year!"

The Doctor grinned back. "And you!"

As she turned to walk back home, the Doctor realized that he had to say one more thing. "What year is this?" he called after her.

She turned around to face him again and laughed. "Blimey, how much have you had?"

The Doctor nodded his head back and forth noncommittally.

"Two thousand and five. January the first," she answered his question, almost rolling her eyes.

"2005," the Doctor repeated, as Rose nodded, rubbing her arms to keep warm in the snow.

"Tell you what," the Doctor began, his voice constricted with emotion, "I bet you're gonna have a really great year!"

"Yeah?" Rose grinned, amused.

The Doctor smiled back and nodded, trying to hold back his tears.

Rose turned away for a second and then faced him again, beaming. "See ya!" She raced to her stairwell to get out of the cold.

The Doctor watched her and saw her look back for half a moment. _There goes my Rose Tyler, off to save the universe_, he thought to himself.

Then a searing pain struck him. It was beginning. He started to walk back to the TARDIS, having to limp because of the pain that was beginning to fill his entire body. Thirty feet from his ship, the pain grew so intense that he collapsed, ending up on the snowy ground on all fours.

Then he heard a sound. He looked up and saw Ood Sigma standing before him.

"We will sing to you, Doctor," the Ood said. "The Universe will sing you to your sleep."

The Doctor suddenly could hear a beautiful and sorrowful song inside his mind, as he regained the strength to stand upright and continue to the TARDIS.

"This song is ending, but the story never ends," Ood Sigma said in goodbye as the Doctor fought his way to the TARDIS, unlocking the door and stepping inside.

He threw off his coat and stared at his hands, the glowing intensifying rapidly as regeneration energy began to pour out of them. It was time.

He moved slowly around the controls, leaning on the console for support, as he sent the TARDIS up into space, orbiting around the Earth.

In his mind the Doctor could hear the Ood's song reaching its climax, and he began to panic. He had said his goodbyes to everyone he loved, and he had done so much good in the world, but he couldn't bear this. Tears filled his eyes.

"I don't wanna go," he said breathing heavily as energy began to flow out of him in every direction. The TARDIS began to break apart, and soon the Doctor knew no more.

Within a moment, he was gone, and a new and very different Doctor stood in the TARDIS, ready to take on the universe.

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_A/N: Having to rewatch that last scene was so painful. I really just miss David Tennant. Final chapter should be up soon - it won't be as long as the others._

_Thanks for reading and please review!_


	5. Epilogue

_A/N: This is it! Finally finished! I start classes tomorrow, so I knew it would be best to finish this before I get caught up in a heavy workload. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it!_

_Disclaimer: Doctor Who is property of the BBC, and I take no ownership of it or any of its characters. _

* * *

Almost two years later, a family was spending their evening in their living room. It was almost the picture of domesticity, the only object detracting from that image being the large blue time machine in the corner marked, in large letters, "POLICE BOX."

A man was entertaining his young son on the floor with a sonic screwdriver and stories of his adventures all through time and space.

"So there I was, held captive by shop window dummies that were about to throw me to the Nestene Consciousness, and then your mum gets ahold of a chain and swings over to save me, knocking the dummies and the antiplastic into the big blob of the Consciousness, making the living plastic go back to being regular plastic and saving the whole world!"

The child stared from his mother to his father, wide-eyed. "Wow. And that was the first time you met Mummy?"

His father nodded. "The very first time. And then I had to ask her twice if she wanted to come and travel with me in the TARDIS because she said no the first time."

"She said _no_?" the child asked incredulously, turning to stare at his mother, his eyes somehow growing bigger. The fact that his mother turned down coming in the TARDIS was more unbelievable to him than the adventure with the Nestene Consciousness.

His father nodded again. "She did. But I knew it wasn't every day that I met someone like your mum, so I had to ask her again."

The child's mother could not help but smile from her position on the sofa where she was reading a magazine. She was several months pregnant with a second child that the family had just found out was a girl. She and her husband wanted to name the new baby after one of their friends, but they had not yet decided on which one.

She glanced at the clock. It was getting late. "Jack, it's time for bed."

"Okay, Mummy," Jack said, rubbing his eyes.

He toddled over to his father, who stood up and gave him a hug.

"Goodnight, Jack," said the boy's father, ruffling his hair.

Jack and his mother walked up to his room to get ready for bed, while his father sat back on the sofa.

Suddenly, he heard a noise at the door: three hurried knocks and then the scampering of feet running away. The man got up and walked cautiously to the door, quickly opening it. On the mat was a letter addressed to "Rose Tyler and the Doctor." The man's face grew confused as he stepped outside looking for whoever had delivered the letter.

There was no one in sight.

Sighing, he took the letter back inside just as his wife was walking down the stairs from Jack's bedroom.

"What's that, Doctor?" she asked, staring, questioningly, at the envelope in his hands.

The Doctor held up it up to show her. "Not sure who it's from. It was just left on the front step. It says it's for Rose and the Doctor, so that'd be us." He offered a small laugh.

Rose frowned, confused. "What is it? A letter?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I haven't opened it yet."

The pair sat on the sofa, as the Doctor opened the envelope.

Inside was indeed a letter, written on two different sheets of paper, but there were also three pictures. One was of a man in a bow tie and suspenders waving at the camera with both hands, a huge smile plastered across his face. The man was also present in a second picture, standing with his arms around a tall red haired woman and a man with sandy brown hair. Each of them was smiling, but none more than the bow tied man in the middle. The third picture was the inside of the TARDIS, only recognizable by the console in the middle, as the familiar coral structure had disappeared and had been replaced by yellow-y light and lots of glass, metal, and stairs.

"It's got to be from the other Doctor," said Rose, awed. "He came back."

The Doctor, too, was taken aback. "It looks like he has."

"I like our TARDIS better," Rose murmured as she and the Doctor examined the picture of the other Doctor's new ship.

The Doctor only nodded vaguely in reply.

"Let's see what he says," Rose decided, picking up the part of the letter that proclaimed 'THIS PAGE FIRST" at the top, and she began to read it out loud to the Doctor. "**My dear Rose Tyler and other Doctor,**

**As you are reading this, time in our world has gone, as you would say, Doctor, 'wibbly-wobbly.**"

Rose stopped reading and raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, who shrugged sheepishly.

Rose continued."**Long story short, all of our enemies came together and locked me in the Pandorica beneath Stonehenge in 102 AD, but I was able to get out, thanks to some friends of mine, and now I'm heading back to present day using a vortex manipulator that I got from River (Do you remember River? She's lovely. And she also went to get the TARDIS and never came back. I need to find her... But that's not important right now.) and since the universe is in the process of collapsing, I figured this would be a good chance to leave this letter with you all. I wrote this several months ago in the hopes that I would find the time to give it to you. I'm glad to see that all references to Rory are in it again – he died a while ago and then disappeared from existence, but he's back now. Anyway, I have to run. Universe to save. The usual.**

** -The Doctor**"

Rose looked up at her Doctor, confused. "Who's River? And what does he mean 'disappeared from existence'? And what's the 'Pandorica'?" She read the unfamiliar word from the page.

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Well, River I met at that library years ago. Don't you remember me telling you about her?"

"Oh!" Rose said, nodding. "Yeah, her."

"And I have no idea about this Rory fellow." The Doctor took the paper from Rose and read the last few lines himself and then shrugged, having no idea as to how someone could disappear from existence and then manage to come back.

"And the Pandorica?" Rose asked.

The Doctor paused. "That's just a fairy tale. The lure is that it holds the most deadly being in the universe."

Rose stared, confused. "And that's… the Doctor?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I suppose to all my enemies, I am the most deadly being in the universe."

Rose smiled at him, leaning into his shoulder. "You're the savior of the universe though. No matter what anyone else thinks, that's what's true."

The Doctor kissed Rose's temple. "Thank you," he whispered.

Then the Doctor picked up the second sheet of paper and began to read the part of the letter that the other Doctor had written months before. _"__**Rose Tyler and the Doctor,**_

_** I hope this letter finds you well. I'm not sure how old little Jack will be when you receive this, but I send him my best. The same goes for Jackie, Pete, and Tony. I think I confused them a bit right before I left, so apologize to them for me, if you would.**_

_** After I left you, I made one last stop to see you, Rose, one last time. Do you remember New Year's Eve 2005? Just a few months before you met me for the first time? You spoke to a man that you thought was drunk, but that was me, about to regenerate.**__"_

Rose gasped, causing the Doctor to stop reading. "I remember," she said, almost shocked. "I never remembered that before, but now I do. He told me I was going to have a really great year…" Rose trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes.

Her Doctor put his arm around her comfortingly as he continued._"__**Then I regenerated in the TARDIS and ended up almost destroying the ship. She repaired herself, of course, and now she's been remodeled. I've put in the picture I took of her. Isn't she beautiful?**__"_

The Doctor looked at the picture of the ship again and scrunched up his nose, distastefully. "You're right, Rose," he said. "Ours is better."

He continued._"__**Speaking of pictures, the man in the bow tie is me. I wear a bow tie now. Bow ties are cool**__."_

"What happened to me?" the Doctor asked, forlorn. "I remodel the TARDIS and adopt a terrible fashion sense?"

Rose laughed at him. "Oh, come on, Doctor. It's not that bad. There's nothing _really_ wrong with bow ties."

"And you'd be fine if I started wearing a bow tie with my suits?" He looked at Rose, eyebrows raised.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "It wouldn't look good on you, and, besides, you never world."

The Doctor raised his head up, indignantly. "I've worn a bow tie before, and I looked dashing!"

"Maybe you've worn one to a party or two," Rose corrected, "but not every day. But I won't contradict the 'dashing' part of that."

The Doctor winked at her as he turned back to the letter. "_**Right after I regenerated, I met a red-haired girl named Amelia Pond. She was seven, and she asked me to look at the crack in her wall. I left for a few minutes after I looked at it, but when I came back, twelve years had passed. And then another two after I banished the Atraxi (long story, sorry). But Amelia Pond (She prefers Amy now, for whatever reason) still came with me. We rescued a Star Whale and met William Churchill again (and Daleks, of course) and had a bad run in with some Weeping Angels. After a few trips, we brought her fiancé Rory along with us. Amy and Rory are the two other people in that picture with me. We've seen Venice together (and stopped some imitation vampires from **__**Saturnyne), and I've promised them that we can go to Rio tomorrow.**_

_** But the point here is that when I left you two, Rose, you asked me not to be alone. You told me to find someone to be with, a friend. And that's what I did. I'm very happy, and I'm still having adventures. Amy and I even met River a few weeks back. You remember River, don't you, Doctor? Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I'm fine, and I hope you are too. Maybe I'll get to see you when I deliver this.**_

_** If I can't though, have a wonderful life, Rose Tyler. And you too, Doctor.**_

_**Love from, The Doctor**__"_

When the Doctor finished reading, he turned to Rose, who looked thoughtful.

"He never even mentioned Donna or Martha or Mickey or Jack or Sarah Jane or anyone," she said, confused. "Has he not seen them? He just keeps talking about this 'River' person."

The Doctor frowned. "I suppose that me is the one that gets to know River."

He began to look through the papers and picture, but then he saw a note hastily scrawled onto the back of the main letter.

"Look at this!" he said, showing it to Rose as he read it out to her. _"__**Oh, and news from our world: Martha and Mickey have a son, only a few months old. His name is John, after you, Doctor;**__"_

The Doctor paused in his reading to smile proudly at the thought of his friends before continuing. _"__**Donna and Lee have a daughter named Rose;"**_

Now it was Rose's turn to smile.

_"__**I don't know much about Jack; and I'm planning on visiting Sarah Jane soon. Everyone's okay.**__"_

The Doctor finished and looked up at Rose with a grin. "That's better."

Rose smiled back. "Yeah."

Later that night, as Rose reread the letter for the third time, she sighed contentedly. She was comforted by the knowledge that both of her Doctors were safe and happy: one off with new friends and new adventures, and one by her side for the rest of their forever. Her son was asleep in the next room, and it would not be long before another baby Tyler born was born. More than anything, Rose was happy. Life was, as her first Doctor would say, fantastic.

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_A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review!_


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